Privacy Impact Assessment Summary – Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) was conducted for the implementation of the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act (SCCA), which received Royal Assent in June 2014 with final provisions coming into force on June 11, 2015. Representing the first major overhaul of Canada’s Citizenship Act in over 30 years, the primary objectives of the SCCA are to reinforce the value of citizenship, strengthen program integrity and combat fraud, and increase efficiency.

The purpose of the PIA was to identify and assess potential privacy impacts associated with the introduction of the SCCA on CIC’s Citizenship Program. It included a review of new information sharing authorities enabled under the SCCA and the new and amended Citizenship Regulations and Citizenship Regulations No. 2, as well as a review of the collection and use of personal information in CIC’s updated citizenship application process.

The PIA found that the privacy risks related to the introduction of the SCCA are assessed as moderate to low, with all privacy risks identified in the PIA being effectively managed through the use of departmental controls. In summary, individuals are notified of the purposes for which personal information is to be collected prior to collection, and all personal information collected, used, disclosed or retained by CIC is limited to that which is authorized under the SCCA and its supporting Regulations. Whenever possible, personal information is collected directly from the individual. Use and disclosure of personal information by CIC is limited to the legislative authority under which the information was initially collected.

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